Meet the Coach – BRIANNE!
This week we caught up with you amazing Coach Brianne and found out some cool fact about her. Check out her story below – there is some interesting things in there. Can you believe she used to be an Astronaut?!!
Name & Age – Brianne – 30 years old
A brief story about you?
I’m from a tiny town called Greensburg in Indiana (USA). I completed my Master’s from Durham and just finished my PhD from Edinburgh University where I focused on the well-being and happiness of refugees and asylum seekers in two African countries and the UK. I met my husband at the Hogmanay (NYE) street party in Edinburgh in 2012, and we’ve been together ever since! Well, kind of…at one point I was living in the Gambia and finalising plans for our wedding in the US with Jake who was in the UK. I don’t recommend that!
I kind of can’t believe I’m actually working in the fitness industry! I began seriously exercising nearly two years ago at Ocean Fit and absolutely fell in love with the changes I experienced not only physically but mentally. It transformed my outlook on life and my the way I treat myself. I genuinely love it and if I can help another person find this sense of self-love and acceptance then that would be amazing.
Oh man, dream job would definitely be working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees! Based in Geneva with frequent overseas travel to keep up-to-date with the regional offices in Sub-Saharan Africa. To be honest, my dream dream job would include a bit of fitness work on the side as well! Can’t get enough of it!
Best advice for anybody just getting started in fitness and strength?
Find what you enjoy and stick with it! Your exercise preference won’t necessarily be the same as your partner’s or friend’s, so try out some different styles and see what suits you! Once you find something you enjoy, give yourself some time to get used to it. It will be hard, you will be sore, but it is so worth it! Definitely aim to make it a normal part of your routine and you’ll wonder how you ever did without. And be prepared for people to comment on the physical changes even though the mental changes will definitely overshadow it!
What keeps you motivated?
My motivation for fitness is generally pretty high…but I find when I can’t work out or make it to classes as often as I like, I just feel lethargic and sluggish and generally ‘bleh’. So avoiding that feeling is definitely motivation for me! Plus I love the feeling of getting stronger and seeing muscles come through.
Biggest fitness achievement to date is my little 2.5 chin ups!!! I’ve been working on building my upper body strength and am working on my pull ups. Also, it’s not happened yet…but I can’t believe I’m signed up for my first half marathon! So exciting.
Any pets?
I have a spoiled rotten Shih tzu called Gabby. She is a moody, needy brat and the absolute love of my life (sorry Jake!)
I spent a summer in Greece on an archaeology dig while doing my undergraduate degree. I excavated 2,000 year old tombs that had previously been broken into by grave robbers, but they didn’t take everything! I found two old rings, one a ruby with a bull etched on the surface and the other an emerald with a palm frond on it. Biggest find of the entire dig and one of the most exciting experiences (I was shaking!)
Rubbish fact about you?
I was born without tear ducts, so I had a surgery to poke a drainage hole through to the back of my throat when I was young, which now means my weird, rubbish superpower is that I can taste eye drops?? (and they’re absolutely horrible!)
“If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire.”
“When you realise how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”
Thanks Brianne 😀
